A Servant Leader’s Path

As president and chief executive officer of Atlanta’s Grady Health System for more than a decade, John Haupert ’83, M’92, FACHE, has built a reputation as a transformational leader grounded in humility, empathy, and emotional intelligence, values that he traces back to his formative years at Trinity University.

Born and raised in Fort Smith, Arkansas, Haupert found more than just an education at Trinity. “Trinity is very welcoming, very open, and very easy to be part of the community. I found it to be a place where I could discover more about myself without obstacles,” Haupert reflects.

Growing up in a family full of physicians, Haupert admits to feeling a bit of pressure to start down a pre-med track. With the encouragement of professors like Richard Burr, he found a home in the Michael Neidorff School of Business and majored in business administration with a concentration in finance.

“Trinity’s liberal arts approach to education made it my top choice when I was selecting my college,” Haupert shares. “At some other schools, I would have been limited to classes within my major, but at Trinity, I could branch out from my business classes and take a number of literature classes with the great Coleen Grissom.”

Haupert also explored an interest in music, participating in the Trinity Choir and Chamber Singers, and still holds fond memories of performing at Vespers and the Madrigal Dinner and studying under vocal professor Rosalind Phillips.

After graduating from Trinity, Haupert entered Dillard’s executive development program. Eventually, Haupert’s calling to healthcare pulled him back to Trinity’s Health Care Administration master’s program. “There was no need to go anywhere else,” he says. “It’s one of the top programs in the country, and the year-long administrative residency that’s required in order to graduate really gets your foot in the door and gets you exposure to working in an actual healthcare environment. The leaders of health systems in San Antonio understand the importance of the program at Trinity and participate in learning opportunities with the MHA students, which I think is another big plus.”

Haupert’s administrative residency at Methodist Health System in Dallas launched a 14-year tenure that saw him rise to executive vice president. “My mentor at Methodist was John Carver ’74. We very much became a Trinity training ground and brought in lots of residents like Laura Irvine M’96 from Trinity who are now senior executives in some big health systems. It’s been wonderful to watch their careers evolve,” Haupert says.

In 2011, Haupert joined Grady Health System, Atlanta’s only Level 1 trauma center, during a critical turnaround phase. Named among Atlanta’s most admired CEOs, he approaches his role at Grady as a servant leader, meeting people where they are, truly listening to them, and accommodating them to help them realize their greatest potential.

“I’ve never believed there’s room, particularly in this profession, for people who ascribe to command and control. That just doesn’t work. You can have the highest IQ in the world, but if your EQ is negligible, you’re going to fail. I’ve seen so many people’s careers derailed because of ego getting in the way of what was the right thing to do,” Haupert explains. “Emotional intelligence is so valuable, especially as a leader at this level.”

The recipient of the 2023 Gold Medal Award, the highest honor given to outstanding leaders by the American College of Healthcare Executives, Haupert wants to pay back Trinity for everything it gave him.

“Trinity, while an incredible academic experience, was a great life formation experience for me. So much of who I became was because of the environment at Trinity. I’ve always been indebted to Trinity for that,” Haupert says.

To ensure the mission of Trinity is sustainable well into the future, Haupert and his husband, Bryan Brooks, established the Elizabeth Wolferman Haupert Endowed Scholarship Fund in mathematics in memory of his late mother. “She was a mathematician with a degree from Wellesley College. She fell in love with Trinity through my experiences at the University. Trinity meant the world to her just like it does to me,” Haupert says.

This endowment, matched by the Trinity Commitment scholarship initiative, will ensure a lasting impact for students following in Haupert’s footsteps to pursue their passions.

Through his enduring support and commitment to Trinity, Haupert is empowering Trinity students to learn to lead with purpose, compassion, and integrity.